Allen Cunningham, aka "Clever Piggy", was born on March 28th, 1977, in Riverside, California. His poker career started as a child, in "around the table" poker playing with his parents, Dean and Joanne, and with the rest of his family. Even then Allan Cunningham realized he had a gift as far as it concerns card games, but except for beating his family members there wasn't much he could do in the matter.
After graduating high school, Allen Cunningham attended UCLA and studied for a degree in civil engineering. It took Allen Cunningham a single year to realize that poker was his true passion and destination – a year during which he didn't attend many lessons, but worked as a pizza delivery boy and played poker in Indian casinos, building the beginning of what was about to become his current grand-bankroll. Playing poker that year was a hobby for young Allen Cunningham, who enjoyed the freeroll tournaments and low-limit cash games, but the passion had already entered his heart. Finally, the poker hand was on top and Allen Cunningham was on his way to fulfilling his true destination as a poker player.
So, 19 year old Allen Cunningham was on his way to become a poker pro. But what can a 19 year old man do when the age limit is, at most places, 21 years old in order to play poker? For Allen Cunningham, his young age was an obstacle. For nearly two years he had to play only in Indian casinos, which have an age limit of 18, and waited for his turn to arrive.
When that happened, as Allen Cunningham finally turned 21, nothing went as smoothly as he would've liked it to. The first year in "the real business" was rather hard for Allen Cunningham, who was still a relatively young and inexperienced player when compared to the others pros, and his profits weren't as sky-high as he had hoped. But during that year, Allen Cunningham learned a lot about the professional poker scene and hooked up with some of the future best poker players, like Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Layne Flack and Phil Ivey. The members of their "group" learned a lot from each other during semi-friendly competitions and group discussions, which made them all better players in the future.
The first live professional tournament Allen Cunningham ever won cash in (that is, after turning 21) was the 25th Annual WSOP Pot Limit Hold'em tournament, in which he won the 25th place and $2,478. That tournament took place on April 29th, 1998. A single year later, at the 1999 Legends of Poker events that took place on August that year, Allan Cunningham had top ten finishes in six tournaments, including two wins. This streak of wins gave a boost to his bankroll and brought Allen Cunningham to a "Best All-Around Player" status.
As the years went by, Allen Cunningham continued his victorious poker career and winning some nice sums of money. Along the way, he won five WSOP bracelets, in the years 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007, with a total winning of $2,200,482 in these tournaments alone! But his true grand winning, his true jackpot, was a winning that didn't even bring Allen Cunningham the first place and a 6th WSOP bracelet.
It happened on August 10th, 2006, a single month after Allan Cunningham had already won the 37th Annual WSOP No Limit Hold'em tournament and his fourth WSOP bracelet. The tournament this time was the 37th Annual WSOP No Limit Hold'em Championship finals, and although Allan Cunningham only took the 4th place, he won the largest sum ever yet to be won by him, and his only 7-digits winning so far: $3,628,513. This winning just about doubled his bankroll back then.
Allen Cunningham lives, breathes and thinks poker even when he's not playing tournaments. His girlfriend is poker pro Melissa Hayden, and they live in Las Vegas, Nevada with their dog, Muffin. He prefers playing No Limit Hold'em, though he had his share of winnings in Pot Limit and No Limit Omaha as well. When he's not playing in professional tournaments, you can find Allen Cunningham next to… a poker table, of course, enjoying a good poker game for relaxation, or at the online poker website FullTiltPoker.com, where he plays regularly.
Allen Cunningham Quick Facts
Cashes: 117
Total Winnings: $9,726,485
First Place Finishes: 16
WSOP Bracelets: 5
